LOOKING INTO THE FACE OF TRUE MASTERY

 by Phillip Starr

I consider myself very fortunate to have met and in some cases, trained with, some of the finest martial arts masters in the world. Many people nowadays like to refer to themselves as “Master”, “Hanshi”, or even “Grandmaster”, and it seems that many martial artists are elevated to such status (by themselves or others) simply because they have been involved in the martial arts for a long time. So let me tell you what authentic mastery looks like...

Hidetaka Nishiyama was, in my opinion, probably the finest karate master of the last century. I first met him when he visited by friend, Chris Smaby (now an 8^th dan with the JKA). On one day, he was demonstrating a timing drill; Chris was to punch at him with a strong reverse punch and Nishiyama sensei would lightly slap his wrist and then deliver his own reverse punch. They did this several times and Nishiyama's slaps were sharp but not brutally forced. His punches just touched Chris's chest, making a light slapping sound and not jolting him at all.

Later, we retired to the dressing room to prepare for a much needed lunch break and Chris looked at his wrist. The blood vessels just under the skin had virtually exploded due to his teacher's light slaps. When he removed his jacket, the truth was evident...every place that Nishiyama sensei had touched him with his fist, the blood vessels had burst! Chris raised his eyebrows and said, “My God! Another inch of penetration and my lungs would have burst!” Nishiyama's punches were sharp but he exerted no brute force; in fact, he seemed not to exert any real force at all! I'd never seen that kind of thing before and I've never seen it since.

Arthur Lee was, I believe, the world's highest authority on Fut-Ga, a southern form of shaolinquan. His teacher was the legendary Lum Dai Yong. Arthur wasn't a big, hulking man; he was of very slight build and was always ready with a smile. His power was well-concealed. Many years ago when he was visiting students and friends in San Francisco, he was asked by Tiger Claw Martial Arts Company to help test their newest focus pad. He reluctantly agreed. When he arrived at their headquarters, they provided him one of the pads and asked him to give it a good whack and see if he could damage it. Using his palm, he delivered a sharp slap (Fut-Ga specializes in a kind of “slapping power”) and the pad split in two! The CEO of Tiger Claw sighed...it was back to the drawing board for a pad that such men couldn't destroy...

When I was in Japan in November of 2016, I was able to meet the legendary swordmaster, Kuroda Tetsuzan. He had practiced a family style of martial arts (which is not limited to using only a sword) all his life and had been teaching for a very long time. I found him to be very amiable and of course, exceedingly polite as he invited me and my student, Hiro Misawa to observe his class. At one point, he was demonstrating the “disappearing body” technique, so I paid attention. His student stood before him with his sword raised overhead in the familiar jodan-no-kamae while Kuroda sensei was poised in the waki-kamae with his bokken held low to the rear. The student was instructed to strike if he even thought that his teacher was about to move...

And...Kuroda vanished. In the blink of an eye (literally) he was standing beside his student, having figuratively gutted him! The student hadn't seen the movement,either; his sword was still raised overhead. I turned to my student, “WTF just happened? It looked like something you'd see on a film, as if 3-4 frames had been cut out! One second he was there and then he just disappeared! He set up to demonstrate it again...

I focused my eyes. Although I'm diabetic and my eyesight isn't what it used to be, it's still VERY good. So I focused in on Kuroda sensei...and he did it AGAIN! I shook my head, “HOW in God's name does he DO that?” Hiro hadn't seen it, either. We leaned forward to focus even closer as the master prepared to repeat the lesson. He did it 4 more times and it was only on the last one that I could detect a VERY TINY weight shift before he evaporated...

My primary kung-fu teacher, Master Y.C. Chen (I mistakenly thought the first character of his given name was pronounced with a “w” sound...but it means “cloud”, which, in pinyin, is spelled with a “y.”) could do much the same thing. Instructing me to strike at him as I wished, we would square off. I watched him closely because, even though he was in his 50's at the time, he was extremely fast and slippery. I was still in my teens, very fit and very, very fast. I quickly drove forward with my best pengquan (the reverse punch used in xingyiquan)...and he was gone! Then I felt a light tap on my shoulder. Looking over, I saw my teacher standing beside me...chuckling.

Hino Akira is a martial arts genius. I met him in Japan in 2016 as I had Kuroda sensei. Hino sensei is quite small, barely making it to my shoulders and weighing in at something like 120 lbs. after a hefty meal. He is very friendly; constantly smiling and laughing. He has demonstrated his remarkable skills around the world. In one such performance, he has as many as six men stand front to back in a single file line with the front man holding a thick kicking pad against his chest. Beginning with his fist but a short distance away, Hino delivers an effortless but sharp thrust into the pad, sending the last man in the line almost flying backward several yards! One television crew thought the whole thing was fake, so they asked if they could experience it firsthand. Hino sensei smilingly agreed and again, the last man was sent back several yards, crashing into the wall of the studio. They became believers very quickly. To this day, I remain in contact with this remarkable man.

Enoeda Keinosuke was known as the “Tiger of Shotokan”, and rightly so. It was aid that if you wanted to learn about body connections and biomechanics, you should go to Nishiyama. To see really masterful kata, see Kanazawa. But if you wanted to look death in the face, go to Enoeda. One one occasion, he was standing in front of a young man, trying to explain the real meaning and value of timing. The student wasn't getting it. Exasperrated, Enoeda fired a classical mawashi-geri (roundhouse kick)...the original version travels in a slightly downward arc...and stopped it just in front of the fellow's nose. The student hadn't noticed a weight shift or any indication that the technique was imminent...and remember, they were facing each other at a normal conversation distance. Enoeda held his foot before the young man's face. “Timing”, he said, “It's all timing.”

Master Oyata Seiyu hailed from Okinawa and had been training in karate and kobudo since his youth. A bonafide 10^th dan, his skill in striking vital points and applying “tui-te” (joint twisting) techniques was truly remarkable. He had also mastered the use of the staff. Once, when he visited me at my school in Cedar Rapids, IA., he wanted to demonstrate its use. He offered to receive any attack from any student of mine who wished to try his prowess with a weapon of his choosing.

I had a very impressive weapons rack and one of my senior students, Jim, volunteered. Picking up a broadsword, he approached Oyata sensei who told him to attack in whatever manner he wished. Jim swung the blade at the older man and suddenly, the broadsword was on the other side of the room and the tip of Oyata's staff was positioned just an inch from Jim's throat.

Not to be outdone, Jim ran over to the rack and selected a three-section staff. He whirle it quickly as he delivered his attack, but Oyata repeated the same maneuver. Jim sheepishly looked down at the tip of the staff and smiled. He was certainly no match for Oyata sensei.

One of my teacher's classmates was the renowned Wang Shujin, who went to Japan in the 1950's (which was quite an undertaking, considering that WWII had ended just a few years before that and feelings were still pretty raw). Wang taught xingyiquan, baguazhang, and a lot of taijiquan. He was rather large (especially by the Chinese and Japanese standards of the day); over six feet tall and weighing in at about 400 lbs.! There are many, many stories about him. One such story really stunned me. When I visited the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo inn 2016 with my student and dear friend, Hiro Misawa, I was awed by the enormity of the posts of the huge Tori gate. Hiro told me that Wang had tested the power of his palm (strike) against one of the pillars...and made it sway! Incredible, to say the least!

I have a great many stories of things I've seen and other genuine masters I've met I the past 60 years. There's not enough room here to tell many more of them but these few should serve as fine examples of what it's like to look authentic mastery in the face...